"Believe you can and you're halfway there."

- Theodore Roosevelt, US president

Social Business and Youth – Why it is important to involve the young generations in social business

By Samantha Caccamo on 22 January 2013

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, the initiator of the social business model, spends most of the year travelling from one university to another lecturing students all over the world on social business. There is a reason for that. He believes in the power and creativity of youth. Social Business Earth, like Professor Yunus, is committed to training young people to become active change-makers in the social business sector.

Many interns at SBE are newly graduates or current students. We like to actively involve youth allowing them to offer input during decision-making, problem-solving, and action-taking activities of the company. A dynamic collaboration with youth will engage them in ways that will open doors for them to contribute for the betterment of society, making them feel useful. Instilling a sense of worthiness and capability in youth is one of SBE’s goal in order to enhance their skills, personal self-growth and leadership development.
Older generations must work together with youth to develop their capacity to serve in organizations and become tomorrow’s community leaders. It is the adults’ responsibility to inform youth of their value and the need for their service. Youth provide new ideas and voices that stimulate enthusiasm and generate an invaluable social impact. SBE collaborates closely with the Università della Svizzera Italiana, the largest university in Lugano where SBE is based. Working together with professors to actively engage youth in solving social problems is not strictly limited to pure volunteerism; it empowers them to become effective players in the community development process and nurtures a long-term interest and participation in them. Integrating social business in the teaching curriculum of courses in Entrepreneurship, Management, International Policy and so on, reinforces the importance of youth involvement in social action and policy making. This is also accomplished by involving youth in the examination of existing social problems as well as determining and evaluating potential solutions through social business. Young people want to be part of real world scenarios not just learn theories from books. Involving them in social business creates a direct and powerful connection between young people and the social problem, transforming them from inactive citizens to fully engaged stakeholders.

SBE is honored and grateful to be working with youth in tackling society’s most urgent issues and will continue to involve and train them to become capable agents of transforming our communities. There is no need to wait for adulthood before citizens become involved in systemic change. We must act now, allowing youth to be active citizens engaged in the process, so they can have a voice and they can create the world they want to live in, bringing positive change for the greater good through social business.

Samantha Caccamo is the founder and CEO of Social Business Earth, the first social business in Switzerland created following Prof. Yunus’ principles. The company’s mission is to spread and implement social business in the world.
Read more about SBE on: www.socialbusinessearth.org

About the author

Born in Bologna, Italy, Samantha Caccamo holds a BA in Journalism with a Minor in Asian Studies from Pepperdine University, Los Angeles. She became interested in Grameen’s Microcredit and Social… Read full bio